Not everyone is thrilled about Crane’s purchase of Astros

The prospective sale of the Astros to Jim Crane may be “one of the more controversial in the last decade,” according to a story on bizofbaseball.com.

For a couple reasons, according to writer Maury Brown.

One, because of the tremendous debt that is part of this deal. According to Forbes, almost $300 million of the deal will be financed by debt.

Two, because of troubles Crane has faced in his business career.

In 1997, complaints were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Crane’s Eagle USA Airfreight and its position on hiring blacks and women of child-bearing age. The EEOC finalized a report, and ultimately there was a $9 million settlement.

“We are deeply concerned that someone, that has a broad reach throughout the community and across the country regarding employment … has such a dismal record in the area of discrimination. As such this is someone that should be monitored very closely in the area of employment discrimination as it relates to minorities and woman,” the NAACP said in a statement.